Vaporizer for refrigerating apparatus



VAPORIZER FOR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 22, 1928 Patented Nov.17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANKLIN G. SLAGEL, OF BUFFALO, NEWYORK, ASSIGNOR TO FEDDEIRS MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, INC., OF BUFFALO,NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK VAPORIZ ER FOR REFRIGERATINGAPPARATUS Application filed September 22, 1928. Serial No. 307,738.

This invention relates to the vaporizer of a refrigerating apparatusused principally for domestic refrigeration and more particularly to thevalve mechanism and gas and oil outlets of the same.

In vaporizing chambers for use in connec tion with a refrigerant oflowspecific gravity, such as methyl chloride. the float which controlsthe inlet valve usually is too heavy inasmuch as it sinks into theliquid refrigerant and therefore does not close the valve tightly whenthe normal liquid level has been atcounterbalancing the weight of thefloat thus" rendering the same more buoyant and quickly responsive tovariations in the liquid level of the vaporizing tank or chamber so thatwhen the liquid level drops below normal the inlet valve will be openedand admit additional refrigerant and when'thenormal li uid level hasbeen restored the inlet valve will be tightly-closed and thus ensuremore "uni form operation of the refrigerating apparatus.

It has been found that a fixed position of the oil outlet opening in thegas outlet tube is not satisfactory due to the fact that the liquidlevel of the refrigerant in the vaporizing chamber varies depending ontbecharacter of the refrigerant,-this level being comparatively low whenusing sulphur dioxide, and comparatively high when using methyl Anotherobject of this'invention isto provide means whereby the oil outlet maybe readily and convenientlv adiusted to suit the particular refrigerantwhich is used. To that end this invention provides the gas outlet ofvalve casing and lever forming part of the valve mechanism.

Fig 3 is a sectional end view of the outlet end of said gas andoutlet'pipes.

Fig. 4 is a cross section on line 4-4.0f Fig. 1.

In the following description siinilarcharacters of reference indicatelike parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The numeral 10 represents the vaporizing chamber or tank the lower partof which coil tains the liquid refrigerant which is exposed by means oftubes 11 or otherwise to the space to be cooled and the upper part ofthe chamber containing the gas or vapor resulting from the raising ofthe temperature of the liquid refrigerant due to the exposure of thetubes 11 to the atmosphere in the space to be cooled.

On its front side this chamber is preferably provided with a removablehead 9 whereby access to the interior of the chamber is ac'- complishedwhen desired.

The gas resulting fromthe heating of the liquid refrigerant isdischargedthrough an outlet conduit 12 which is formed in the head 9 andwhich carries the same to a condenser whereby the heat is abstractedfrom the as andt-he same is liquefied preparatory to eing used overagain. p

As the conversion of the liquid refrigerant into gas inthe chamberprogresses and the liquid level therein drops below a normal orpredetermined level additional liquid is admitted into the chamber by afloat controlled valve mechanism which embodies my invention and whichis preferably constructed as follows The numeral 13 represents the bodyor casing of the liquid refrigerant inlet valve which is formed on thehead 9 and which has a port m 14 leading to the interiorof the chamberand terminating in an inwardly facing valve seat 15. The outer end ofthis port 14 may be connected in any suitable manner for example by aninlet conduit 8 with the compressor or -.other parts of the apparatuswhich supply the liquid refrigerant. The passage of liquid refrigerantthrough the valve easing into the vaporizing chamber is controlled by amovable closure member 16 having preferably the form of a needle movablelengthwise toward and from the seat 15, which valve closure is guided ina sleeve 17 forming part of a bracket 18 which is secured to the innerside of the head 9 of the vaporizing chamber by screws 19, as shown inFigs. 2 and 4.

The movement of the valve closure toward and from its seat is eflect'edby a float operated mechanism which embodies my invention and which ispreferably constructed as follows Pivotally mounted on the inner end ofthe valve casing is a vertically swinging lever having preferably theform of an elbow and comprising a lower horizontal arm 20 projectinglengthwise away from the valve casing and the axis of the lever and anupright arm 21 projecting upwardly from the outer end of the lower armand the axis of the lever. The elbow at the junction of these arms isarranged between two lugs 22 on the inner end of the guide sleeve 17 andpivoted thereto by a transverse horizontal pin 23. l

v On the inner extremity of the lower horizontal arm of the shiftinglever is mounted a float 24 which is preferably made hollow andwatertight of sheet metal but any other form of float may be employedwhich has the requisite buoyancy.

The upper arm ofthe shifting lever is pro vided with a recess 7 whichreceives the inner end of the valve and the latter is connected withthis arm by a transverse coupling pin 25. Thisfloat rises and falls inresponse to variations in the level of the liquid refrigerant in whichthe same rests which motion is transmitted by the shifting lever to thevalve so that the valve is opened when the level of the liquidrefrigerant drops below normal and thereby admits additional liquidrefrigerant to flow into the tank or chamber, and when sufficient liquidhas been'supplied to the chamber to restore the normal level then therising float turns the lever so as to close the valve and shut off thefurther supply of liquid refrigerant to the chamber. Downward motion ofthe float is limited by means of a horizontal stop lug 26 projectingfrom the elbow of the shifting lever outwardly toward the valve casingand adapted to engage a stop face 27 on the underside of the guidesleeve.

When using a liquid refrigerant which is low in specific gravity such asmethyl chloride, the pressure in the vaporizing tank is comparativelyhigh and the float sinks deeper in the liquid, but when using a liquidrefrigerant which is high in specific gravity, such as sulphur dioxide,the pressure in the tank is lower and the float sits higher in theliqthe admission of liquid refrigerant to replenish the tank is notaccurately controlled.

In order to compensate for the necessarily heavy float under theseconditions a counterbalance is provided to assist the buoyancy of thefloat, which counterbalance preferably consists of a weight 28 arrangedon the upper arm of the shifting lever and projects outwardly from thesame toward the valve casing or in other words from that side of theaxis of the lever opposite to that from which the float projects.

By this means the counterweight adds its lifting effect to the buoyancyof the float which otherwise would rest deeper in the liquidrefrigerant, thereby compensating for the comparatively low specificgravity of methyl chloride or similar refrigerant and permitting theinlet valve to be closed tightly when the normal liquid level has beenreached and also permitting a sufficiently heavy float to be used towithstand crushing pressures.

The gas or vapor resulting from raising the temperature of the liquidrefrigerant is carried from the upper part of the vaporizing chamber tothe outlet conduit 12 by a gas outlet tube which has a main horizontalbody 29 connected at its outer end with the outlet conduit 12 while itsinner part or end is turned up, as shown at 30, Fig. 1, so as to avoidthe entrance of foam into this tube.

In refrigerating apparatus of this charactcr the lubricating oil of thecompressor is usually delivered with the liquefied refrigerant to thevaporizing tank and means have heretofore been provided for returningthis oil to the compressor by providing the'gas outlet tube with an oilreturn opening inside on a line with the strata of oil floating on top.

of the liquid refrigerant in the tank. Inasmuch. however, as this oilreturn'opening Was in a fixed position the same did not functionsatisfactorily when using differentkinds of liquid refrigerants eitheralone or in connec tion with different kinds of lubricating oils,because the liquid level varies in accordance with the kind of liquidrefrigerant used and also whether lubricating oil is used in con nectionwith the refrigerant, as well as the character of the oil.

It is therefore proposed to provide an outlet for the vaporizing tankwhich is capable of vertical adjustment relative to theliquid level inthe tank. The preferred means for accomplishing this purpose consist ofa bendable oil outlet tube which is separate from the gas outlet tubeand comprises a main horizontal part 31 which is arranged lengthwisealong the bottom of the horizontal part of the gas outlet tube andopening at its outer end into the main outlet conduit 12 while the innerend 32 of this oil outlet tube is bent downwardly and projects throughan opening 33 in the inner part of the gas outlet tube into the strataof oil lying at the top of the liquid refrigerant in the tank. This oiloutlet tube may be secured in position'within the gas outlet tube in anysuitable manner but preferably by bending a loop 34 upwardly outof themetal at the outer end of the gas outlet tube, inserting the outer endof the oil outlet tube in said loop, and securing these two tubestogether by solder on the underside thereof, as shown at 35, or by anyother suitable. means.

During the operation of the vaporizer the preponderating pressure of thegas within the tank against the large area of the liquid ex- I posedoutside of the inlet 32 of the oil tube as compared with the relativelysmall area of liquid exposed to gas pressure within this inlet forcesthe oil on the surface of the liquid refrigerant upwardly through thedepending inlet of the oil outlet tube and thence horizontally outwardthrough the main part of the same to the main outlet conduit where itjoins the gas discharged from the vaporizing tank and returns with thesame to the condenser and compressor for recirculation in a mannercommon to this type of apparatus.

The oil outlet tube is made of malleable metal so that the inlet endthereof can be bent and either raised or lowered to suit the level ofthe oil in the tank in accordance with the particular kind of liquidrefrigerant or the character of the oil which is used. It is thereforepossible to make this vaporizing chamber and the fittings therein all ofuniform or standard construction and still permit the same to bereadilv. easily and conveniently adjusted to suit different conditionswithout increasing the cost of the apparatus.

I claim as my invention:

1-. A vaporizer comprising a vaporizing chamber, a liquid inlet valvehaving a casing provided with an inlet port, a movable valve closure forcontrolling said port, a vertically swinging lever having an upright armconnected with said valve closure and a horizontal arm, a float mountedon said horizontal arm, and a counter-balance weight mounted on theupright arm of said lever and projecting in a direction opposite to thefloat.

2. A vaporizer comprising a vaporizing chamber, a refrigerant valvehaving a casing; Y mounted on said chamber and provided with aninletport and a stop face, as valve' iclosure movably mounted on saidcasing 'andcontrols' ling said port, a vertically swinging lever pivotedon said casing and op eratively conq nected with said valve closure andhaving a lower horizontal arm projecting away from said casing, a stoplug projecting horizontally toward said casing and adapted to engagewith the stop face'thereof, and an upper upright arm projecting upwardlyfrom the axis of said lever, a float mounted on the lower arm of saidlever, and a counter-weight mounted on the upper arm of said lever andprojecting toward said valve casing.

' vaporizer comprising .a vaporizing chamber, means for controlling theadmission of refrigerant to said chamber, a gas outlet conduit;communicating with said chamber, a bendable .oil outlet tubecommunicating with said gas outlet conduit and adapted to be bent foradjusting its inlet end relative to the liquid level'in the chamber.

4. A vaporizer comprising a vaporizing chamber, means for controllingthe admission of a liquid refrigerant into said chamber, a gas outletconduit having a tube'arranged within the chamber and provided with anupturned inlet end, and a bendable oil outlet tube passing through thewall of said gas outlet tube and having a downwardly projecting inletend capable of being bent to change the position thereof relative to theliquid level in the chamber and anv outlet end arranged within the gasoutlet tube and projecting toward the outlet end of the latter.

' 5. A vaporizer comprising a vaporizing let end capable of being bentto change the position thereof relative to the liquid level in thechamber and an outlet end arranged within the gas outlet tube andprojecting toward the outlet end of the latter, and a upwardly bent loopwhich is formed out of the lower part of the outlet end of said gas tubeand which receives the outlet end of said oil tube.

In testimony whereof I hereby afiix my signature. FRANKLIN G. SLAGEL.

